Mercer University
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Dartmouth
Men's Basketball Defeated by Dartmouth, 67-51
12/16/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's basketball team suffered its first non-conference loss at Hawkins Arena in over three years on Tuesday night, succumbing to Dartmouth by a 67-51 margin. Junior Ike Nwamu led the Bears with 13 points in the loss.
Mercer fell to 5-5 on the year while Dartmouth improved to 4-5.
Nwamu scored his 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting and also posted two rebounds, two assists and two steals. Freshman Jordan Strawberry tied his season-high scoring total with 11 points in 14 minutes of action off the bench.
After hitting three of their first four shots to take an early 10-6 lead, the Bears managed to hit just four of their final 17 attempts of the first half and ultimately took a 33-22 deficit into intermission.
Mercer appeared to regain the shooting touch out of the break, hitting 5-of-7 field goals in a fast-paced start to the second half. The Bears got within eight of the lead at the 14:12 juncture, but the Big Green responded with a 3-pointer the next trip down and maintained a double-digit advantage from then on.
Prior to Tuesday, the Bears had not lost a non-conference home game since falling to South Dakota State, 74-61 on Nov. 23, 2011.
Strawberry hit three 3-pointers on the evening and also added two steals and an assist. Junior Phillip Leonard finished with six points, five assists, four rebounds and a steal. Freshman Stephon Jelks corralled four rebounds and scored two points in just four minutes of work.
The Bears wrap up a four-game homestand on Friday, challenging Bethune-Cookman at 7 p.m.
